William c



(Nolvrod'el.)v

4 W. C. HOLMES.

n. y' LEVELING INSTRUMENT,

` v K William dmal UNITED STATES PATENT OFEICE. i" s WILLIAM o. HOLMES, oEAfrLANTAcEoRGIA.

n Ll-:vlaLlNeflrvSTRUn/iEur'.`

SPECIPICATI To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I,A WILLIAM C. HOLMES, a

i citizen ofthe United States,residing at Atlanta,

in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia,

have invented a new and useful Leveling-Instrument; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact 'description of the invention,such `as will enable others skilled` inthe art to which it'appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon,v which form a part of this specitication.

The general class of leveling-instruments to which thisinvention relateslis that used for running ditches and terracing and leveling land; but it may be applied to instruments for other purposes,'the= object .being to cheapen the construction and to make it more substantial and more simple and correct in its operatiOlLi The invention therefore consistsof certain details, which will be hereinafter fully described. Y

In the drawings,.Figure 1 is a. perspective View of the instrument, .showing most of the details. Fig.`2 is a vertical section through the center, showing those details of construction that are not shown in Fig. 1;and Fig. Sis a View of the washer, of leather or other elastic material,that forms a cushion for the spherhereinafter described.y The level A turns on the pivot c and rests onrthe top ofthe ring or disk c. f 'Ihe pivot c and the ring c are carried by and are preferably made integrally with theA spindle C. `The spindle Chas a slight taper and lits a corresponding hole through the-ball fD, as shown in Fig. 2. The spindle Gmay be continued downwardly a sufficient distance to form a handle; but it is preferableto attach ON forming part of Letters Patent No. 381,243dated April 17, 1888. Application tiled November 19,1887. Serial No.725`564.l (No modell.) 'Y

the handle,as shown in Fig. 1,in"order toavoid the necessity of making the hole through the.y ball of so large a size asrto allow the handle to pass through. The spindle and ball might be made integrally; but I prefer the construction shown, for reasons that will be apparent, it bel ing only'necessary that. theball, the spindle, the pivot, and the ring bey rigidly connected.

.'I'he'ball D is in the spherical recess ,partlyv formed in the'plate E,which forms theapex l of the tripod, and partly inthe cap F. The* plate E is preferably formed of metal andthe cap F of wood or other materialpthe two being l bolted or screwed together. Somewhat more than one-half of the spherical opening should other elastic ring, d," which. is yinserted in an equatorial groove around the ball and slightly?.

projecting beyond its periphery,y mayhave a be in the part E, in order that. the leather or bearing in that part E. The ball is-cushioned 'l at its bottom on the washer d, wh-ich isinteposed between it and the bottom of-V the hemi,

spherical opening in theplate E. In order to r make this washer lmore' readily conform toy 'theV spherical shape that it assumes, V-shaped` openings g are formed inits outer edge, as

the ball ofsufflcientsize'to permit theadjustf.

' shown in Fig. 3. OpeningsH are made at the top and bottom of the spherical casing E'Fof ment o'f the surface on which the level rests,

-an approximate adjustment being previouslyy made by the legs of the tripod. uThe washer d, the ring G, and the cap F produce a light but certain friction between the ball D and itsy casing E F,that permits it` to be easily'moved and causes it to remain stationary. when` ad-p justed. y

The operation of this device is as follows: By the legs of the tripod the instrumentis'first adjusted to an approximately-level position,v

after which, by moving' the handle on the spinl die Gand by turning the-level toldifferent an-l gles 'across it, the surface on which the4 level v rests may be'brought to akperfectly-levelposition andthe level may be turned-in any direc-l tion, and by sightingthroughthe Vaperturea horizontalplane will be indicatedp.,` f

n Thisinstr-ument might be adapted to a morel extended use .by adding a compass, attaching', it to the level, and by inserting a thin vertical strip, crossing the strip B', thus adapting the IOO,

instrument to use in running lines or determining horizontal angles; but it is intended to be used, generally, as a leveling-instrument, and the preferred construction is that above described. It may, however, have a universal joint of any known construction without a deviation from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim asnew, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In a leveling-instrument, the ball D, provided with a passage through it for the reception of the spindle C,the spindle Cliavinga support'for the level at its upper end, and the handle attached to the lower end of said spindle, for 1the purpose set forth.

2. In a leveling-instrument, lthe ball D, supported and secured by the plate E and the cap F, said plate and cap being attached to each other by thumb-screws, the leatherv washer d, zo

WM. C. HOLMES.

fitnessesz ALBERT A. WOOD, A. P. Woon. 

